>
> >Might be a stupid question, but how do we know these viruses are "honey
> bee
> viruses" much less managed honey bee viruses , could the wild bees not be
> simple carriers?


Not a stupid question at all!  Following Meghan's excellent answer, in
every study that I've seen, virus prevalence  goes up in other pollinators
when managed colonies of mite-infested *Apis mellifera* are in the
neighborhood.  The viruses easily spread via flower contact, water sources,
and defecation.

These viruses did not necessarily originate in honey bees, but thrive in
today's managed colonies, generally more so than in unmanaged colonies.  Of
interest is the low incidence of viruses in *Apis cerana * and *A. m.
scutellata* when they are not exposed to managed colonies of bees (no DWV
even detected in South Africa, despite the long-time presence of varroa. I
recently asked Mike Allsopp why he thought that was the case, but he had no
good answer).


-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html